5 Feet of Fury

Ooops! Looks like I cost all you guys $167,000. Sorry.

To try to undo all the damage us bloggers were doing to their reputation starting in 2008, the Canadian Human Rights Commission paid that amount for public relations help.

Of course, when I say “they” paid it, I mean you:

The Canadian Human Rights Commission contracted the Ottawa office of Hill & Knowlton [contact info here] to provide strategic advice on how to combat a wave of negative publicity and calls from MPs to strip away some of their powers.

During the tense period for the commission, chief commissioner Jennifer Lynch sought advice from Hill & Knowlton on how to communicate with the minister of justice and whether another government minister could quote her in a news release.

The company also drew a map of a Parliamentary committee room including instructions on where Lynch should sit during an appearance and where water glasses could be found.